And This Morning, Ronald Reagan's Face Appeared in My Breakfast Burrito and He Told Me He's Rooting for Me from Heaven

Just in case you missed it on your calendar, today would have been Ronald Reagan's 97th birthday. But who needs calendars when you can count on friendly reminders from 2008 GOP presidential hopefuls? This afternoon, Sen. John McCain's presidential exploratory committee sent supporters a friendly email reminder from Trent Lott about the Gipper. The Mississippi senator, who has endorsed the Arizona Republican, asks supporters to join with Team McCain in remembering Reagan. But Lott isn't just writing to pay homage to Reagan. He wants you to know that McCain really liked Reagan too and, hint hint, he's running for president. "John knows firsthand the power a visionary and optimistic leader like Ronald Reagan can yield," Lott writes. "During his time as a prisoner of war, stories of Governor Reagan and his loving wife, Nancy, spread through the Vietnamese prison camps, giving hope to John and others that their pride in America was not misplaced. Today, as we again face difficult times at home and abroad, we must remember Ronald Reagan's unyielding confidence that America is the greatest instrument for good in the world. While our freedom and democracy is still challenged, John McCain knows that our resolve, like Ronald Reagan's, must remain steadfast."

The email links to a two-minute video hosted on McCain's campaign site in which the senator explains his admiration for Reagan over pictures of McCain with the Gipper and Nancy, and footage of McCain's time as a POW. "I enlisted as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution," McCain says, as patriotic music pipes up. "Still today, I think of him all the time."

McCain isn't the only GOP hopeful gunning for Reagan's legacy. As The Hotline reports today, Rudy Giuliani's Web site includes five mentions of Reagan, while Mitt Romney references Reagan eight times, including a news release that tries to explain his shift on abortion policy. Before setting his sights on the White House, the former Massachusetts governor had been viewed as a supporter of abortion rights, refusing to overturn his state's abortion laws. But, now, according to the site, "Like President Ronald Reagan, Henry Hyde and others before him, he has acknowledged that in the past he had this issue wrong."